A recent post at NovelHelp.com consisted of an interview with purported indie book publishing guru Todd Rutherford at Yorkshire Publishing. The March 5 post gave a list of 11 actions an indie writer needs to do to promote their book.

I’ve discussed some of these already, so I decided to address item #8 entitled, Is it important to give books away? The answer given: “It is the most important thing to do, as long as they are being given to influential people or wholesale book buyers. Most major publishers give away 3000 to 5000 books when they release a new title.”

Let’s get the math out of the way first. To give away 3000-5000 books, you’d need the distribution network of a major publisher. In practical terms for an indie writer, you’ll have to give out books to anyone you are hoping will review the book – online, radio or print reviewers, bookstores where you’d like to do signings, people with connections.

The cost of a complimentary copy for me is: $4.71 (my cost for a book) + $0.50 (roughly the cost of postage for shipping from publisher. I buy in lots of 50) + postage to mail the book to person receiving the complimentary copy (about $5 as the USPS has a limited tier of rates. If the difference between slow boat to wherever and priority is $0.25 I chose to show the recipient I care and spend the extra quarter). This adds up to nearly $10.25 per book.

Free books are definitely part of the public relations campaign. I agree books should be distributed to influential people, people who are likely to result in multiple sales of your book. I don’t agree this is the most important thing you can do to sell a book. YOU are the MOST important equation in book sales. How much energy, heart, time, perseverance you put in IS what counts. Of course, this is providing you have a good product, you are a TERRIFIC salesperson, or have a GREAT incentive gift to accompany sales.

I have friends who are giving free books away on their Web sites and blogs. I’ve been encouraged to do the same. I haven’t yet. Why? A giveaway isn’t worth much unless there are enough people competing for the freebie. If you don’t already have an audience interested in your product, it’s unlikely you’re going to generate one simply by offering a free book, even an autographed book, if no one has heard of the book or the author.

Being a writer and one’s own public relations staff is tough. I don’t want to be a salesperson. When I wrote my book, I didn’t envision myself in a full-time sales position. I was foolish enough to think that when my book appeared on Amazon.com, the power of that bookselling titan would be sufficient for my book to fly off the digital bookshelf. It didn’t work that way. Building a SM platform, working the traditional public relations routes – newspapers, radio, TV, bookstores – takes a lot of time. There are repeat calls, looking for new ideas, and work, work, work. They all take time. Time I’d prefer to spend on writing my next book.

There’s no question that an indie writer has to spend money to sell a book. Where and how you spend it will, most likely, depend on trial and error. There is no single method that is guaranteed to be a success. Unless you have an endless supply of cash you’ll need to determine what avenues you need to pursue on your own and where you can get help. I chose to employ a SM coach.

I’ve written and distributed my own press releases, and have been following up on my own. I can tell you from years of working with a newspaper, follow through is VERY important. A press release whether by email or snail mail gets lost in the clutter of a blizzard of PR. That’s why follow threw is important.

To turn a phrase: You wrote your book now you’ve got to live with it. You’ve got to work it every way you can.

I’ve got a friend who’s just beginning her own indie published journey. I’m going to ask to relate her experiences in a future blog post.

2 responses to “What’s the Best Way to Sell Your Book? Are Giveaways Worth It?”

I think the best authors are terrific salespeople. If you can’t talk about your novel, then you’re in trouble.

Selling a book is a lot of work, and for us, there has been negligible pay-off in terms of sales. The only satisfaction we get is from the writing process — you can hear the crickets chirping in response to our fiction works.

That being said, I plan on making our books available for the Kindle and iPad, and we’ll keep talking about our books at our site.

As my writing partner and I work full-time in industries that don’t involve publishing and have families, it’s pretty much impossible to devote the time and energy to doing live appearances, book fairs, etc.

I am also glad you found my blog. I hope you will come back often, and leave comments. My book is non-fiction, which someone recently told me is easier to market than fiction. I thought this an ironic comment, as statistics show that novels outsell nonfiction. The truth in her comment is that I can look for women’s groups who might be interested in the book’s message. However, I think it isn’t all that different for novelists who can pursue book clubs, and the like where there are avid readers….It is important to be passionate about what you write. Not only because a writer invests a lot of time in the work but because there is a lot of time needed to promote the work. Now if a writer isn’t interested in covering their costs, making money or sharing what they’ve written with an audience then they can just focus on writing. For the rest of us, it’s a LABOR of love, and sweat, and sleepless nights. Passion has that affect on people 🙂

Living in the Heartland

Three Extraordinary Women's Stories

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Living in the Heartland chronicles three women's search for identity, self-esteem, and happiness. It's a compelling story of real Americans − women who are heroines not because of remarkable feats but in the graceful way they live in the face of challenges. Living in the Heartland: Three Extraordinary Women's Stories available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com.

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